


The Flightless Crow

by currentlydissociating



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Broken Bones, I'm Bad At Tagging, Idiots in Love, M/M, Major Character Injury, Oblivious Kageyama Tobio, Rope Bondage, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26619904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/currentlydissociating/pseuds/currentlydissociating
Summary: Kageyama and Hinata are heading to a week long training camp, but it doesn't end up as they planned because Hinata breaks his leg and Kageyama has to take care of him. They are also in love with each other but they're both being stupid about it and refuse to admit their feelings.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Kudos: 48





	The Flightless Crow

It was early in the morning and the Karasuno team was on their way to training camp. Kageyama was trying to remember which teams would be there and trying to plan which tactics would be best against each of them but it was very difficult because Hinata wouldn't shut up.

"Kageyama, aren't you excited for training camp? I can't wait to play against all the teams over and over and over again! the best part about training camp is that you never have to stop playing volleyball even if you lose!" Hinata was vibrating with excitement, "I texted Kenma this morning and he said he couldn't wait to see us! well, maybe it was more like I told him I couldn't wait to see him and he said 'okay' but that's basically the same thing!"

Very quickly Kageyama was fed up with all of his chatter, "You idiot! won't you shut up! how are you so full of energy this early in the morning!"

Hinata was unphased by Kageyama yelling at him (probably because it happened so often) and happily answered his question, "How are you not more full of energy? I just can't wait to see everyone again and get them to teach me some new techniques." he paused for a moment and added quietly, "I may have also had three cups of coffee."

"Three cups!? Hinata you don't even drink coffee, and that's way too much to put in your tiny body!"

Hinata looked indignant, "I'm not that small! I can handle three cups of coffee. I just wanted to make sure I stayed awake so I don't miss anything today."

"Dumbass! it wouldn't matter if you missed this bus ride, nothing important is happening so it would be better if you fell asleep now anyway"

"Oh yeah? if that's so much better how come you aren't sleeping?" Hinata retorted.

"Because a little red-haired moron won't be quiet!"

The bus ride continued like this until Yamaguchi shouted, "We're here!" and Hinata immediately stopped talking and climbed over Kageyama so he could get to the door first. Kageyama got up and followed him as fast as he could because there was no way he was letting Hinata beat him inside. The one issue with this plan was that the bus doors weren't actually open yet and Kageyama had too much momentum to stop in time, so he ended up slamming into Hinata and they landed on the floor of the bus together in a tangle of arms and legs. This meant that they were the last off the bus because their teammates had made no effort to help them and just stepped off the bus as if Kageyama and Hinata weren't even there. Kageyama sat up, pinning Hinata to the ground so that he wouldn't move because Kageyama was still set on beating him into the building.

"Hey!" Hinata exclaimed, "let go of me! this isn't fair!" Kageyama didn't respond and he got up as fast as he could and ran while Hinata was still on the floor. even though Kageyama had gotten a little bit of a head start, Hinata was catching up fast. He was surprisingly quick with his short legs so Kageyama was thankful that the building wasn't far. He was just able to burst through the doors before Hinata caught up. The place they would be staying for the next week wasn't all that interesting but it had the essentials and that was enough, because they would be spending most of their time on the volleyball court anyway. Everyone went into the room they would all be sleeping in and most of the team sat down to unpack, except for Hinata who immediately turned to go into another room. Kageyama called after him, "Where are you going? I'm not going to unpack your stuff for you, you know." (this was a lie, if Hinata didn't unpack before they started playing volleyball Kageyama most definitely would have done it for him and blamed it on Suga or Yamaguchi)

"I'm looking around!"

"that's stupid. you've been here before you know what it looks like."

"okay fine," Hinata conceded, "I still feel very hyper from all the coffee. I also really have to pee!"

"I told you it was a bad idea to drink that much!" Kageyama yelled after him, but Hinata didn't answer because he was already out of the room.

Kageyama finished unpacking his and Hinata's stuff and started feeling very impatient. They couldn't start playing until all the other teams arrived. coach Ukai told them he would let them know when that happened but he hadn't said anything yet and Hinata was still gone, so Kageyama couldn't even pass the time by making fun of him. Come to think of it, Hinata should have been back by now. It usually didn't take him that long to go to the bathroom unless he was feeling anxious but he'd seemed really excited about the training camp. Kageyama looked around at the rest of the team. nobody else seemed to notice his absence. Kageyama decided to go look for him. if nothing else, it was a way to pass the time. No one said anything as he left which he was relieved about. He wouldn't want to admit that he was at all worried about Hinata, especially since he'd only been gone for around 10 minutes so it was very unlikely anything bad had happened to him.

Kageyama walked down the hallway and yelled, "Hinata! you'd better not be having anxiety about this week or I'm going to slap you in the face until I can knock some sense into you!"

Kageyama wasn't sure what sort of response he was expecting but it certainly wasn't what he got.

"Kageyama?" Hinata's voice came from down the hall near the stairs. Kageyama had never heard him sound like that before. his voice wasn't full of energy like usual and he sounded either like he was frightened or in pain. Kageyama's heart dropped and he started running towards the end of the hall. the stairs were around a corner so he couldn't see Hinata yet. If this was some sort of trick to get Kageyama all worked up he would pummel that little nuisance to a pulp. As he turned the corner, he immediately regretted thinking that. Hinata was lying at the bottom of the stairs trying desperately to stand up. his face was contorted with the effort of it and it was obvious why he was having so much trouble: his leg was twisted at a very strange angle. just looking at it made Kageyama feel sick to his stomach and for a moment he was frozen in place because he was so shocked. after a second his brain was able to process what he was seeing and he unfroze and rushed over to help Hinata. Kageyama pushed him to the ground so that Hinata wouldn't worsen what already looked like a terrible injury.

"we need to get you some help. stop moving or it's going to take longer to heal. what did you even do?"

Hinata struggled against Kageyama, "I'm fine. I just fell down the stairs. that's happened before and I didn't need help then and I don't need help now. I want to go play volleyball, that's what we came here for. you idiot, I can't believe you're so worked up over nothing." Kageyama was very shocked and annoyed, "me? I'm the idiot?"

"yes," responded Hinata matter-of-factly as he grimaced in pain.

"I can't believe you! you can't even stand up and you're calling me stupid for trying to help you!" Kageyama exclaimed, "you're such a dumbass! I don't know why I bothered to come find you. you don't deserve my help"

"I'm glad you think that because I don't want it."

suddenly they heard suga's voice from down the hall, "Hinata! Kageyama! I can hear you fighting! stop it for a minute, it's time to go to the gymnasium!" Hinata looked Kageyama dead in the eyes and said, "see, we need to go play so let go of me so I can get up."

"Alright, it's your funeral." Kageyama responded. He did feel a little bad about letting go but Hinata needed to be taught the hard way that you can't always do everything through sheer determination. Just as Hinata was trying to get up again, Suga turned the corner and saw them both on the floor. Immediately, his face fell.

"What happened? Kageyama, help me lift Hinata, he needs to go to the hospital!"

"Hinata was being an idiot as usual and he fell down the stai--"

Hinata cut Kageyama off, "I don't need to go to the hospital. I'm telling you I'm fine. just look." To demonstrate that he was okay Hinata pushed himself into a sitting position then grabbed onto Kageyama and used him as a support to stand though he looked very unstable. Kageyama could feel that Hinata was putting most of his weight onto him. suga looked skeptical, “I still don't think you're alright," he said, "but if you really think you're fine we'll just take you to the hospital and if you're right you can go play volleyball."

Kageyama looked at Hinata who looked very worried, which made sense because it was very obvious that he was not doing well, his grip had tightened on Kageyama’s shoulder and his breath was becoming more ragged, probably because of the effort it was taking him to stay upright. Then, to Kageyama’s surprise, Hinata exclaimed, "Okay let's go then, so I can get to the court sooner!"

'he must be delusional,' thought Kageyama, 'there's obviously something wrong with him. there's no way he's getting back to volleyball anytime soon.'

Kageyama and Suga picked up Hinata and started carrying him out of the building. there was a lot of protest from him because he kept insisting he could do it himself but he quieted down when Kageyama had had enough and dropped him, Suga was very shocked as he was left holding a very upset Hinata upside down. After that incident Kageyama picked Hinata up by the armpits again and the walk to the bus went fairly smoothly. Next, all they had to do was get someone to drive them to the hospital. There was a little bit of a debate over who should stay with Hinata and who should find someone but it ended up with Suga staying behind. This may have been influenced by the number of times Kageyama had threatened to hurt Hinata, because Suga seemed very worried at the idea of leaving them alone together. this meant that Kageyama now had to decide who he wanted to tell about the situation. He didn't want to worry their teammates at the moment, especially because he knew that they probably couldn't do anything to help so it would just affect their ability to play and he didn't want that to happen. He knew he should probably let Coach Ukai know where they were going and what had happened but it was probably best to ask Sensei Takeda to drive so the team wouldn't be without their coach for an unknown amount of time. After he'd decided this, Kageyama ran into the gymnasium, and even though he was in a hurry he tried to act nonchalant so no one would pay attention to him. He forced a smile onto his face as he went through the doors. This was the mistake that caused his plan to backfire. The doors shutting behind him sounded like the loudest thing in the world in that moment. He saw was the Karasuno team and the Nekoma team standing around waiting. It felt like everyone in the room was staring at him even though it was only a couple people. It was the whole room very quickly though because Noya shouted, "Kageyama! you're finally here, we've been waiting for you. Where's Shoyo and what's with that evil grin?" There was an uncomfortably long pause until Noya spoke again, "what did you do to Shoyo?"

"That's not important." Kageyama said. This made everyone look frightened and Kageyama realized that maybe it would be worse to not tell everyone what happened at this point or they might start spreading rumors that he had murdered Hinata or something else of that sort. He explained what was going on and that they needed Takeda to drive Hinata to the hospital. Everyone looked extremely worried and they all wanted to go see Hinata before he left. They all paraded out of the gym and headed for the bus. When they all got there Suga looked surprised to see so many people and he pulled Kageyama closer so he could talk without everyone hearing.

"I didn't expect you to tell everyone. I thought we were going to wait until we got back so we didn't scare them too much." Kageyama looked a little embarrassed, "I tried to do that but everyone sort of knew something was up."

"How?"

"Well I smiled at them and--"

"Oh," Suga cut Kageyama off "I understand now." Kageyama was about to say something back but Ukai had started talking so they looked up and listened.

"I am aware that you are all concerned about Hinata's well-being. He does seem to have suffered a great injury but there's not much that most of you could do to help and I don't think it's a good idea for all of you to go to the hospital." There was some protest at this but Ukai just continued, "it would be best if we stay here and start training. Since Kageyama and Sugawara were the ones that found him I would say they could go, because Hinata probably would like having a couple of his teammates with him, but since they both play setter, I'm afraid only one of them can accompany him. Once that is decided the remaining person should come back inside with the rest of us and we can start our first match." After they left, Suga and Kageyama looked at each other and then Suga spoke, "You should go with him, I think he would prefer your company to mine." Kageyama didn't say anything which Suga took as an agreement and he got up and went back towards the gymnasium leaving Kageyama, Takeda, and Hinata alone on the bus. Takeda looked very stressed, "Do you think I should call his parents? I feel like I should inform them of this before we leave." Kageyama looked at Hinata, the color had left Hinata's face and he was lying in an awkward position on one of the bus seats.

"No," Kageyama responded, "I think you should call them when we're at the hospital. we'll probably have to wait once we get there anyway and Hinata needs medical attention as soon as possible." Hinata looked over at them, "Careful Kageyama, it almost sounds like you're worried about me, and I'm sure you don't want anyone to think that."

"Shut up! I'm just worried that if we don't get out of here soon, you'll be stupid enough to hurt yourself more," Kageyama responded, "Now move over." he added as he went to sit by Hinata. The bus started moving and Hinata was thrown onto Kageyama as it made the sharp turn out of the parking lot.

Thankfully, the ride to the hospital was only twenty minutes or so. Once they got there the biggest problem was figuring out how to take Hinata inside. Takeda was too afraid he would drop Hinata to carry him so Kageyama had to do it by himself. After they got to the ER Kageyama set Hinata down in one of the waiting room chairs and then filled out the right forms while Takeda called Hinata's parents. They wanted Hinata to come home immediately after they left the hospital but Hinata took the phone and after several minutes of arguing he had gotten them to agree to let him stay for the whole training camp. They made Kageyama and Takeda promise to keep a close eye on him and make sure he didn't injure himself even more. Finally, they got called in to see the doctor. The first thing she did was ask how much pain he was in a showed him a little chart where 1 was fine and 10 was excruciating pain. Hinata of course said that he was 1, but when she put slight pressure on his leg, he had to stifle a gasp. She then asked if he could wiggle his toes, and despite a great deal of concentration and effort, he couldn't. Much to Hinata's disappointment, it didn't take her long to figure out that he probably had a broken leg. She told them he needed to be taken for x-rays to see how bad it was. They put him in a wheelchair and took him into the x-ray room, where he had to lay very still on a table so they could get a clear image of his bones. When they looked at the x-rays, they could see that he had broken both his tibia and fibula.

"you can probably tell from these images, or even by looking at his leg," the doctor gestured toward Hinata, "but he had a very nasty fall. Not only has he broken two bones, he also managed to fall in a way that the alignment is off."

"What does that mean?" Kageyama asked.

"It means we have to move his bones so that they'll heal right," she explained.

"no thanks, I'll pass," said Hinata quickly, "I'm sure I'll be fine without that."

"If your bones heal in the position that they are now then they will always look bent. we need to reposition them so that they look the way they're supposed to. Don't worry, it'll be over relatively quickly."

They moved into a different room where Hinata would get his cast. There were two people working in there who would be putting the cast on him. They asked him what colors he wanted and he picked black and orange to match the Karasuno team. They slipped a tube of cloth over his leg for the bottom layer of the cast. Thankfully, the cast was only going to go to right below his knee so he could still bend it. Next, they added a white layer of the fiberglass. It was still wet and moldable so they could wrap it around his leg. One of the orthopedic technicians looked up and said, "I'm just giving you a warning that we're about to reposition your bones."

"Don't I get any anesthesia?" Hinata asked.

"No, I'm afraid we're out at the moment, sorry" said the doctor. She had no hint of remorse on her face, "it's going to be painful, so you might want to hold your friend's hand." Hinata glanced at Kageyama, "that won't be necessary."

"Okay then," said one of the technicians. As soon as they started messing with his leg Hinata immediately exclaimed, "I changed my mind!" and reached out to grasp Kageyama's hand. Kageyama was so surprised that he almost pulled away, but when he saw Hinata's expression he decided not to. Plus, Hinata was gripping his hand so tightly it would've been hard to break free, "You do realize that hurting me won't lessen your own pain, right?" Kageyama said.

"I do, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it," Hinata responded. He reached over and used his free hand to grab Kageyama’s other one and tightened his grip even more.

"You really don't need to do that," Kageyama complained.

"Aw don't you feel bad for me? I'm having my bones moved, the least you can do it hold my hand. It's really painful you know."

One of the technicians looked up, "Actually we finished already. I was going to tell you but I assumed you could feel it, so I didn't want to interrupt your conversation." Hinata blushed slightly, but kageyama noticed he still hadn't loosed his grip. They then put on the orange and black fiberglass and waited for it to harden. Once it did, Hinata was given a pair of crutches, told he shouldn't put weight on his broken leg, and then he was ready to go back to camp. It didn't take Hinata very long to get the hang of his crutches and in just a couple minutes he was moving pretty fast. He wanted to race Kageyama to the bus, because he claimed it was a rematch for when Kageyama beat him inside at training camp. Takeda was very much against this idea and Kageyama was a little wary himself, "Hinata, don't you think this a bit unfair?"

"What? are you scared I'm going to beat you because you can't cheat this time?"

"No! I'm worried because you seem to keep forgetting that you're crippled!"

"I think you're afraid that even with a broken leg I'm faster than you." Kageyama didn't really want to race him but after a comment like that he knew he had to or he would never live it down. "Okay fine," he said reluctantly. Immediately they were off, leaving Takeda yelling after them and looking upset. Even though he was moving with a surprising amount of mobility and speed for someone who had just broken his leg, Hinata was definitely slower than usual and Kageyama could outpace him pretty easily. He had almost reached the bus when he hesitated. As much as Kageyama loved winning against Hinata, this didn't feel right. He turned around and ran back toward Hinata. This surprised Hinata so much that he almost fell over. He actually did start falling but Kageyama reached Hinata just in time to catch him in his arms. He then lifted Hinata in the air, dropped the crutches in Hinata's lap, and headed back towards the bus.

"Hey! why did you do that?" Hinata exclaimed.

"You were about to fall dumbass," Kageyama responded, "You should be thanking me instead of scolding me."

"That's right, you had to save me because you think I'm so helpless now. You're like my knight in shining armor," then Hinata smirked, "or should I say my king." Kageyama glared at him, "Don't call me that! if you do it again, I might just drop you." Hinata grinned and ruffled Kageyama's hair (he usually couldn't do that because Kageyama was too tall or he swatted his hand away so now was a perfect opportunity). Then he turned and saw that they had arrived at the bus, "Looks like it's a tie," Hinata said, "I told you I was just as fast on crutches." Kageyama was indignant,

"That's only because I carried you!"

"Now, now, let's not fight over the details," Hinata said calmly, "The point is that we tied."

After everything that happened, Hinata seemed tired, and he fell asleep on Kageyama's shoulder for most of the bus ride back. Kageyama was used to this, Hinata often fell asleep on him for long bus rides. He didn't mind it because Hinata's head wasn't heavy and it meant he didn't have to listen to his chatter for hours on end. Kageyama ran his fingers through Hinata's hair. Most people might think this was an endearing action, but Kageyama didn't feel that way. Everyone touched Hinata's hair, Kageyama just did it the most. Plus, Hinata's hair was fluffy and soft so it was just a nice place for his hand to be while Kageyama was lost in thought. Kageyama didn't realize how much he'd been enjoying it though until the bus stopped in the parking lot and Hinata woke with a start. "Are we back?" he asked. Kageyama quickly pulled his hand away and gave Hinata his crutches. "Of course we are dumbass. Where else would we be? Now get up so we can go show the team you're still breathing."

Hinata's eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! And maybe I can learn how to play volleyball on crutches!"

Kageyama snorted, "That's a terrible idea. Even if you could you wouldn't be good at it. Your only skill is jumping and there's no way to do that with a broken leg." Hinata frowned, "Who says I can't?!"

"The doctor. If you jump you might accidentally land on your leg and you aren't supposed to put any pressure on it."

"Why do you always have to take the fun out of everything?"

"Because I'm the one that always needs to clean up your messes and fix your mistakes," Kageyama responded, "and it's a difficult job, because you are constantly making mistakes."

"No one's forcing you to do that so I'm sure you enjoy it, no matter how much you complain," Hinata retorted.

"No, I'm just the only one competent enough to deal with you," Kageyama said, "most of the people on our team are as stupid as you."

"What do you expect me to do when you're not around?" Hinata asked. Kageyama glared at him. "See?" Hinata said, "You know I'll be fine."

"You moron!" Kageyama exclaimed, "That's how you broke your leg!" Kageyama paused for a moment and then he said, "I know what I'll do to make sure I'm always there to help you clean up your messes." He pulled out a sharpie and wrote something in big black letters on the orange part of Hinata's cast.

"It's not like I want to do it," Kageyama muttered, "but I don't think anyone else can handle you so now they'll know to get me." Hinata looked down at what Kageyama had written. In his messy scrawl it said, 'Property of Tobio Kageyama.'

When they walked inside the gymnasium, they saw that the match had recently finished because the Karasuno team was still doing flying falls while the Nekoma team was stretching. Everyone looked up from what they were doing, and a few people ran over to talk to Hinata. Among them were Tanaka and Nishinoya, much to Kageyama's horror because they both immediately noticed that he had written on Hinata's cast. At first, they were just looking at it because they liked the colors Hinata had chosen, but upon closer inspection (not that they had to be too close, Kageyama had written quite large), they saw the words.

"I may be reading this wrong because Kageyama's handwriting is so bad, but does this say 'Property of Tobio Kageyama?'" Tanaka asked loudly. Nishinoya examined it too, "I'm pretty sure it does," he said, "Is there something you'd like to tell us Kageyama?" Kageyama's face felt hot, he started stammering something but before he could get it out, something even worse happened. Tsukishima came over because of all the noise, and he saw the cast too.

"Oh, has the king started claiming people now?" Tsukishima asked, his eyebrows raised, "you really think you're important enough to do that?" He directed his attention to Hinata, "Why would you let him do that? He's just undermining your importance." Hinata looked at Tsukki, his eyes wide, "You think I'm important?" he responded. Tsukki was slightly taken aback. That didn't seem to be the answer he was expecting. He was about to say something else, but Kageyama grabbed Hinata's arm, "Let's go," he said hurriedly, "You need to lie down anyway." As they turned towards the door, Tsukki called after them, "Taking your property with you I see, mighty king." Kageyama had had enough. He was about to turn around and punch Tsukki in the face when Hinata spoke, "Tsukishima, it was just a joke between us, if anyone has a right to make fun of him it's me, so you can stop now." This interaction made Kageyama feel even more terrible and he left the gymnasium without waiting for Hinata. How could he have been so stupid. Of course it was an awful idea to write something like that. He hadn't been thinking about his teammates' reactions when he'd done it. All he'd been thinking about was Hinata and how bad it would've been if he hadn't found him at the bottom of those stairs. He just wanted to be the one to protect Hinata if anything bad happened to him and he wanted to be informed as soon as possible if he couldn't be the first to find out. That's all he'd been intending when he wrote that, but he knew it would be taken the wrong way by everyone because they just thought he wanted control. He wished he could go back and undo it so no one would be judging him like this. Kageyama clenched his his fists and felt his nails dig into his palms. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around so violently that he almost knocked Hinata over.

"Hey," Hinata said, "If it makes you feel any better, I thought what you said about wanting to fix my mistakes was nice, and I like what you wrote on my cast because it'll make me think of that. And if it's taken that way it even sounds a bit more like I'm the king and you're doing my bidding," there was a pause, "Not that I want or need your help." Hinata added quickly. Kageyama didn't respond. In truth, it did make him feel better but he would never admit that. Hinata spoke again, "Do you want to get back in there and play some volleyball with me?" There was a moment of silence, in which Hinata looked very frightened and then Kageyama shouted, "How many times do I have to say it until it gets through your thick skull! You can't go back to playing volleyball yet!" He turned around, "I'm going to talk to Coach Ukai about this."

"Wait," Hinata said, "I already talked to him." Kageyama sighed with relief (though he hoped Hinata thought it was frustration), he didn't want to face Tsukishima again just yet.

"What did he say?" Kageyama asked.

"Well," Hinata looked at the ground, "I'm sure he was exaggerating a bit."

"What did he say?" Kageyama repeated.

"He said I could watch," Hinata mumbled sadly, "and he said I couldn't even do that for the first couple days because I needed to rest." His voice got louder as he added that. Hinata was obviously very upset, so even though Kageyama agreed with Coach Ukai he didn't say anything about it. Just as he thought that, Ukai stepped out of the gymnasium, "Oh good you're both here," he said, "I need to talk to you for a minute." He turned to Kageyama, "Did Hinata tell you what I said about him needing rest for the first couple days?" Kageyama nodded. Coach Ukai continued, "I know that this seems like a harsh punishment, but it really is for Hinata's well-being. Kageyama I would like you to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't ignore me and practice volleyball anyway. I assumed you would be the best for the job since you two are so close." Kageyama raised his eyebrows, "What gave you that idea?" Ukai looked confused, "Well, you two always arrive to practice at the same time, you also leave at the same time, you take extra time out of your day to practice together more often, you--"

"Okay I get it," Kageyama interrupted him, "Alright, I'll take care of Hinata. Will this affect my ability to take part in the practice matches?"

"It depends on how stubborn Hinata is," Ukai grinned, "for the first couple of days when he's supposed to be in bed you may have to miss a few, but after that he'll have enough supervision when he's allowed to watch the games. I know you don't want to miss out on everything and this is a lot to ask but I really do appreciate it."

"What about me?!" Hinata shouted, "Why didn't you say you appreciate me, or that you're asking a lot for me to miss volleyball?! I have to miss every single game! Compared to me Kageyama got off easy!"

"If it were someone else, I might say those things," Coach Ukai explained, "but because it's you, I know you're going to try your best to disobey me so I see no reason to." Hinata frowned, but he didn't disagree with him.

"Oh, one more thing before I forget," Ukai said, "Hinata can sleep in the room next to the one everyone else is in so he can have a more comfortable bed. Also, there's two beds placed in that room in case Kageyama wants to sleep in there as well for any reason. I do suggest that you both take that offer, because it's not one that many people get." Kageyama and Hinata nodded and Ukai walked away. Kageyama and Hinata looked at each other.

"So, do you want to sleep together?" Kageyama asked.

"Well," Hinata began. Kageyama realized what he'd just said and he immediately blushed and stammered, "oh...um…I didn't mean for it to sound like that, I meant do you want to both sleep in the room?" he clarified. Hinata looked unsure. Kageyama realized it might be because Hinata was not planning on staying in his bed throughout the night so he wouldn't want Kageyama there to mess that up. As soon as he thought this Kageyama said, "Never mind, you don't get a choice. I'm going to stay with you."

They started heading away from the gym so they could inspect the room and Kageyama could get Hinata settled in. When they got there, Hinata turned to Kageyama with pleading eyes, "Are you sure you want to do this? You know how much volleyball means to me; I would really appreciate it if you just didn't listen to the coach this one time. Just let me go try it. Please, I'm begging you." Kageyama looked down at him, "I do like to see you beg," He said, "but I'm not changing my mind." He picked Hinata up and threw him on the bed. Hinata looked stunned, "What are you going to do to me?" Kageyama was confused, "What do you mean? I'm going to take care of you like I promised Coach Ukai." He pulled the blanket over Hinata's body, "Now stay here, I'm going to go get us some lunch." Kageyama left the room. Unfortunately, the door locked from the inside so he couldn't guarantee that Hinata wouldn't escape. He would just have to go get food as quickly as possible so even if Hinata did leave he wouldn't be able to go far.

Kageyama did feel a little bad that Hinata couldn't play volleyball so he got plenty of pork dumplings because he knew they were one of Hinata's favorite foods. He also grabbed a few slices of watermelon for them to share and bought himself a juice box and Hinata a bottle of water. Kageyama's arms were pretty full at that point so he decided to head back. He entered the room and set the stuff down on a table next to the bed. As he was doing this he said, "I hope you're hungry because I got a lot." There was no response. Kageyama looked up, and saw that the bed was empty.

"Goddammit Hinata!" Kageyama yelled, "I asked you to do one thing!" He was about to rush out of the room when he heard a clatter. Kageyama walked over to the other side of the bed and saw Hinata crawling on the floor, trying to reach his crutches, which were leaning against the wall. Hinata looked up at Kageyama guilty, "I wasn't trying to escape I swear," he gulped, "please don't hurt me."

"Don't lie to me," Kageyama growled, "I won't do anything to you this time, but trust me when I say that if it happens again, I won't be so forgiving." He dragged Hinata to his feet and shoved him back on the bed. They ate in silence. Hinata kept glancing nervously at Kageyama's face which was fixed in a scowl.

"Look, I'm really sorry Kageyama," Hinata began. Kageyama moved extremely fast as he shoved Hinata up against the wall. He then leaned in and whispered in Hinata's ear, "Like I said, just don't let it happen again, if you do, that's when you'll really be sorry." Then he pulled away and got up. With one final glare in Hinata's direction, he left the room. Kageyama slammed the door shut behind him and then sighed. He could go join volleyball practice with the rest of the team, but he felt like his head was so full of thoughts that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on a game. He knew he'd been a little harsher on Hinata than he deserved. Especially after he'd already gone through so much today. He just wanted to scare him so Hinata would stay put and Kageyama wouldn't have to run all over the training camp to find him. Why couldn't Hinata understand that everyone was just trying to help him? It made Kageyama mad that he was giving so much of his time and effort and in return all he got was Hinata getting angry at him. Kageyama knew he would have to go in and face him at some point, but he didn't want to. He hated it when they fought, not the usual insults that they had all the time, the big fights where Hinata didn't talk to him for days. Granted, Kageyama also didn't talk to Hinata and Hinata was the one who usually resolved the fight in the end, but Kageyama knew that as long as he was keeping Hinata from playing volleyball they would be at odds. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted at the sound of someone calling his name. Kageyama looked up to see who it was, and saw Noya hurtling towards him.

"Kageyama!" He yelled again, "Where's Shoyo? I thought you two would be together. I feel like I've barely seen him today." Kageyama thought about answering that question but he knew if he let Noya go visit Hinata, they would come up with some stupid idea together. He was sure that Noya would have no issue letting Hinata out and helping him play volleyball.

"He's resting right now," Kageyama said, "So I don't think he would want to be disturbed." Noya's face fell, but after a moment it brightened again, "Well, if nothing else at least I'll see him when we're all getting ready for bed."

"Actually, I'm not so sure about that," Kageyama corrected him, "He's actually sleeping in another room so he'll be more comfortable."

"Aren't you watching him though?" Noya asked, "How is that going to work?"

"Hinata and I are sleeping together," Kageyama explained. As soon as he said that he cursed himself. 'I need to stop saying it like that' he thought, but before he could correct himself Noya started bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Really?" Noya seemed very happy, "Asahi and Tanaka each owe me 500 yen. They said you wouldn't admit your feelings this early, but I knew it!"

"Admit my feelings?" Kageyama repeated, "What are you talking about?"

Noya was dumbfounded, "You mean you don't know? Your feelings for Shoyo of course." Kageyama blushed, "I don't have any feelings for Hinata! Maybe annoyance, but that's it!"

"I can't believe you got me all worked up over nothing. Be careful how you phrase things next time," Noya groaned. He started walking away, and as he did he called over his shoulder, "When you do realize you love him, let me know, I want to collect my money."

Kageyama couldn't believe what he'd heard. Did their teammates really think that him and Hinata were in love? If they did, what had given them that crazy idea? They may be together all the time, but that didn't mean anything. They argued way too much for anyone to think they could care for each other. Sure, Kageyama thought of Hinata as a friend and a partner, and they were essential to each other when they were on the volleyball court, but that was different. He started heading back so he could go tell Hinata what Noya said. Even though they were fighting at the moment, Kageyama needed reassurance that he wasn't the only one that thought the idea of them being together was insane.

When he walked into the room, he was a little surprised to see that Hinata was still in bed. Even though he'd yelled at him he still hasn't trusted him to listen. Hinata looked up at him, "Welcome back warden." Kageyama ignored the comment, "You're never going to believe what Noya said to me." Even though Hinata was trying to act annoyed, Kageyama could tell that he'd piqued his interest.

"Apparently, some of our teammates think we have feelings for each other. They were even betting money on when we would admit it, " Kageyama said. Hinata quickly sat up in bed so he could fully pay attention, "What?"

"It's crazy right?" Kageyama laughed nervously.

"Yeah, crazy," Hinata repeated. Kageyama noticed that Hinata was purposefully not making eye contact.

"I wonder why they would think that? We obviously don't like each other in that way," Kageyama continued.

"Yeah, obviously," Hinata repeated again, he seemed disappointed for some reason. Kageyama was hoping that telling Hinata about this would reassure him that his teammates had no reason to think what they did, but it was doing the opposite. Hinata gulped, "Why did Noya tell you about it?" Kageyama looked at the ground, "Oh, um, no reason. I guess he just thought I would like to know."

"Um," Hinata started, "This is totally hypothetical, but if you did like me, what would be the reason you wouldn't admit it?" Kageyama seemed bewildered at the question, "What do you mean?"

"If you loved me, but didn't tell me it, must be because there's something you hate about me so you didn't want to be in a relationship. Remember this is all hypothetical. What would that be, and is it something I can change?" Hinata asked. Kageyama was taken aback, "This is all hypothetical right?" Hinata nodded.

"Well, you are kind of annoying, but if I loved you, I'm sure I wouldn't mind how much of an idiot you are because that's a big part of your personality. Hypothetically, I wouldn't want to change anything about you. I would just be too scared to admit my feelings because you wouldn't return them and it might mess up how well we play volleyball."

Hinata groaned, "Well, that's entirely unhelpful." They both didn't say anything else for an uncomfortably long amount of time, but then the silence was broken because Hinata sneezed. Kageyama latched onto this as a chance to change the subject, "Hinata, you'd better not be getting sick! You're already hard enough to take care of! If you sneeze again, I'll hurt you."

"It's not like I can control it!" Hinata shouted. Kageyama put a box of tissues on the bedside table, "At least take these so you don't get germs everywhere and spread it to me." Hinata blew his nose and then threw the dirty tissue at Kageyama, "You won't let me get out of bed, so throw this away for me." Kageyama moved back so it narrowly missed him, "You're disgusting! You could've just asked me to get you a trash can!"

"But that's not as fun," Hinata said cheerfully. Just then, the door opened and Kiyoko leaned in and informed them that if they wanted dinner Kageyama should come get it before the rest of the boys devoured everything. Neither of them was starving but Kageyama went to go get some stuff anyway. When he got back, they ate and talked about what they would be doing if Hinata wasn't broken for what seemed like hours. They only realized it was getting so late when Coach Ukai told them that the rest of the team was going to bed. Kageyama glanced at Hinata, "Are you getting tired?" Hinata yawned, "Surprisingly, I am. There's something about sitting in bed all day that just makes me want to go to sleep." Hinata looked at Kageyama, "Unless, you want to go for a walk with me to see the training camp while it's dark and empty." Kageyama was actually very tempted by that suggestion. It would be nice to go for a moonlight stroll with Hinata. He stopped himself, what was he thinking? That sounded extremely romantic and he knew if Tanaka and Noya found out they would make fun of them to no end. It wouldn't mean anything of course, they would just be friends going for a walk together, but he still didn't want to risk it. Also, he realized, he was supposed to be keeping Hinata in bed so that was just another reason not to. "Not tonight," Kageyama said, " I think you should just go to sleep." Hinata frowned, "Okay, but it does sound like you're open for it happening a different night. Tomorrow, perhaps?" Hinata suggested.

"Don't get your hopes up," Kageyama said, "Is there anything you want me to get you before I turn the lights off?" he asked. Hinata thought for a moment, "I do enjoy listening to noise machines as I fall asleep, so I would love it if you made some whale sounds for the next half hour or so. I will also accept rainfall, crickets, or a cat purring." Kageyama didn't want to dignify that with a response, so he just hit Hinata with a pillow and then turned off the lights. Kageyama made his way over to his bed and got in. He closed his eyes, and listened to Hinata's breathing regulate as Hinata drifted off to sleep. Kageyama tried to do the same but he couldn't. One of the main reasons was that Kageyama was very cold. He wished he had an extra blanket, but he hadn't brought one. Even if there were some extras at camp he didn't know where they would be and he didn't want spend all night looking for something that probably wasn't even there. He shivered and pulled his blanket over his head. Then he got an idea and got out of his bed to go through his stuff. He pulled out his Karasuno jacket and put it on before burrowing under his covers again. He felt a little better but it still wasn't enough. He tried to think warm thoughts and found himself fixating on Hinata's bed. Because he'd laid in the dark for so long his eyes had adjusted to the gloom so he could see it clearly. The bed was definitely big enough for two people and Kageyama could even see an empty space next to Hinata that would be the perfect size for him. He thought about how wonderful it would be to just climb in bed with Hinata so they could cuddle and share body heat. It wouldn't be weird, friends slept in the same bed all the time. The only problem was that he didn't know if Hinata would feel the same way, and he didn't want it to be awkward between them for the rest of the week. So Kageyama chose to stay in his own bed. The issue was that his bed still hadn't gotten any warmer and all he could focus on was the empty space next to Hinata. The more he thought about it, the colder he felt. Finally, Kageyama couldn't take it anymore. There was no way he could fall asleep like this, he needed to get in Hinata's bed. He'd only do it for a few minutes, just until he warmed up and then he would move back and Hinata would never have to know. Kageyama wrapped his blanket around himself and then moved towards Hinata's bed. He got in as quietly as he could, careful not to wake Hinata up. As soon as he was under the covers next to Hinata, Kageyama felt so much better. It was very warm and cozy under here, he could definitely get used to this. Kageyama's contentment was immediately replaced with dread when Hinata started moving. Kageyama was paralyzed and he felt like he was going to have a heart attack. It turned out there was nothing to worry about because Hinata was just rolling over in his sleep. Before he had been turned away from Kageyama but now they were nose to nose, his face was so close Kageyama could count the number of eyelashes Hinata had. Hinata had also unconsciously flung his arm over Kageyama and gripped the back of his shirt. After Kageyama waited a few minutes and realized Hinata wasn't waking up, he felt relieved. He felt better than when he'd first got in the bed because now that Hinata was touching him he felt even warmer. He was very happy with the positions they were in now but he wouldn't mind a bit more body heat. He dared to reach out over Hinata's waist and pull him closer so that their torsos were touching. Kageyama couldn't believe that he would have to leave this amazing, comfortable place at some point. He wished that he wouldn't have to worry about Hinata walking up so he could just stay here forever. It was extremely hard not to fall asleep now but he forced himself not to because he knew if he did he couldn't guarantee that he could get back to his own bed before morning. He told himself that he would stay until the next time Hinata turned over. This was a lot longer than he originally had planned but Kageyama hadn't anticipated Hinata putting his arm over him. It turned out that it was 30 minutes before Hinata rolled over again. When it happened, Kageyama felt a wave of disappointment wash over him as he sadly moved back to the other bed. He was plenty warm now, but he couldn't help wishing that he was still over there, pressed up against Hinata's body. Kageyama was still thinking about it as he dozed off and it was the first thing that came to mind when he woke up abruptly a few hours later. He looked over at Hinata's bed and saw that he wasn't there. Kageyama instantly sat up and checked the time. It was three in the morning, so it would be a few hours until someone else got up. This meant Hinata could be anywhere, since no one was around to spot him and take him back. It was all up to Kageyama to find him. Kageyama threw his blanket aside and put his feet on the floor. He thought about putting his shoes and socks on, but decided against it so he wouldn't waste anymore time. First, he double checked the room to make sure that Hinata wasn't there, but Kageyama didn't see him and the crutches were gone, so Kageyama could safely assume Hinata was somewhere else. Kageyama was pretty sure he knew where that was. He left the room and practically ran to the gymnasium. As luck would have it, Kageyama was correct with his guess, and even before he opened the doors, he could hear the volleyball bouncing around inside. Kageyama poked his head in and saw Hinata practicing receives up against a wall. Kageyama could see the crutches lying on the floor and Hinata was balancing on one leg so that his hands could be free. Hinata wasn't doing well. He seemed very unstable as he jumped after the volleyball. More often than not, he missed it, and had to go chasing it several meters across the gym floor. Kageyama couldn't take much of this sad display any longer, "Hinata!" he yelled. Hinata froze, he tried to turn and see where Kageyama's voice was coming from, but all he succeeded in was falling over. Kageyama grabbed Hinata's crutches and sprinted over to him.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Kageyama burst out.

"Kageyama, let's think rationally about this," Hinata said, his voice trembling, "If the doctor wanted me confined to a bed I would still be at the hospital. She let me leave it so I'm sure she's fine if I do some things."

"Even if she did, I don't think this is what she had in mind," Kageyama snarled. He threw the crutches next to Hinata and waited expectantly.

"Well, pick them up!" Kageyama ordered. Hinata did as he was told, though he seemed miserable about it. Kageyama grabbed Hinata around the middle and threw him over his shoulder.

"Hey, I can walk by myself!" Hinata complained.

"Good for you," Kageyama said sarcastically, and he tightened his grip. He then marched over to the supply closet and grabbed some of the rope that was in there. It was used whenever the net broke, but Kageyama needed it for a different purpose. He tossed it over his shoulder next to Hinata. Hinata's breath hitched and he started struggling against Kageyama's hold, "What's that for?" he asked nervously.

"Don't worry about it," Kageyama answered. Hinata was apprehensive, "I think it's impossible for me not to be worried."

They didn't talk again until they'd arrived back at their bedroom. Once they were inside Kageyama took the crutches and leaned them against the wall before pushing Hinata on the bed.

"This time, you aren't getting away," Kageyama muttered fiercely. As he spoke, he started to untie the bundle of rope. Hinata began backing away, but soon enough he was up against the wall and couldn't go any further. Kageyama set the rope down for a moment, seized him, and forced Hinata to lay flat again.

"Stop moving," Kageyama warned him, "The more you resist, the worse it'll be for you." Kageyama picked up the rope again and climbed into the bed with Hinata, straddling him. He leaned over and started tying Hinata's wrist to the bed.

"Wow, you're getting pretty comfortable," Hinata managed. Kageyama hesitated for a moment. Was this weird? Was this not something that a friend would do for another friend? When he thought this he realized how silly it sounded. Of course this was something friends would do, Hinata was just trying to trick him so that Kageyama would let him go.

"Nice try," Kageyama said, "but I'm not going to stop." He wrapped the rope around Hinata's wrist several times and then knotted it so it was very secure. He cut the end of the rope so it was now in two pieces. He was about to start on Hinata's other wrist when Hinata made a very violent movement in an attempt to push Kageyama off of him. It did not work, but he did succeed in making Kageyama lose his balance and fall forward on top of Hinata. Hinata let out an audible gasp, but neither of them said anything. Kageyama could feel Hinata's heart beat against his own chest. Hinata's free hand was positioned right under Kageyama's and their faces were almost touching. Kageyama could feel Hinata's warm breath on his cheek. Their lips were only a couple of centimeters apart, if he hadn't stopped himself right at the end of the fall they would basically be kissing. As much as he didn't want to, Kageyama felt a small twinge of regret at this thought. They looked into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Kageyama knew he should sit back up, but he couldn't. He was too shocked at being this close to Hinata and the fact he wasn't hating it as much as he thought he would. Finally, Kageyama felt like he could move again and got up slowly. Kageyama cleared his throat, "I told you not to resist," this didn't come out how he anticipated. He'd meant to yell it at Hinata, but instead it came as a nervous mumble.

"Sorry," Hinata responded. He seemed a little dazed. Kageyama took this opportunity to tie Hinata's other wrist down. This brought Hinata back to his senses right away.

"You know," Hinata said thoughtfully, "to the untrained eye, we could be mistaken for a couple."

"How?" Kageyama asked.

"It's pretty simple," Hinata explained, "I mean, you're literally sitting on top of me in a bed, and tying me down isn't helping either." Kageyama didn't like this conversation, he felt like Hinata was trying to get him to admit some deep, dark secret, but he didn't know what it could possibly be.

"Anyway," Hinata continued, "after all this excitement, I definitely don't think I could fall asleep. You should entertain me Kageyama. It's not like I can go anywhere. I'm your captive audience. You could also say I'm a little tied up right now. What have I gotten myself roped into?" Hinata could've continued all day but Kageyama wasn't having it, "Fine, I'll entertain you! Just stop with the puns!" Hinata grinned, "You will knot be sorry." Obviously Kageyama couldn't be sure that this last sentence was a pun, but it was Hinata so he assumed it was.

"That's it!" Kageyama yelled, "I already told you to quit!" He grabbed a piece of cloth and shoved it in Hinata's mouth like a makeshift gag. Hinata's eyes widened and he tried to say something but it was muffled.

"That's so much better," Kageyama sighed, "I like you when you're tied up and silent." Hinata's eyes narrowed, but he still couldn't say anything. Kageyama leaned forward and ruffled Hinata's hair, "I know I promised I would do something to entertain you, so I will. How about I tell you all about how hard it's been for me to take care of a shrimpy little boy who keeps ignoring everything I say?" Kageyama laughed, "No, that's too depressing. Maybe you want me to do a comedy act? Oh right, now I remember. You wanted me to make whale sounds." Hinata tried again to say something through his gag, but gave up and just nodded excitedly. Kageyama let out a low moaning noise.

"That's the sound whales make right?" he questioned. Hinata nodded his approval. Kageyama smiled, "Good. Only the best whale sounds for you. I'm sure you're picky about that." Kageyama continued running his fingers through Hinata's hair and making deep moaning sounds until neither of them could keep their eyes open.

...

Hinata had a very strange dream. He and Kageyama were both crows, but Hinata had a broken wing so Kageyama had to fetch worms for him. Hinata wanted to tell him that he appreciated all that Kageyama was doing and that he loved him, but Kageyama was stuffing Hinata's mouth with worms so fast that he couldn't get the words out. Finally, Hinata couldn't take it anymore and he ran away and banged his head on a rock over and over again.

Hinata woke up with a splitting headache. His eyes were still full of sleep and therefore his vision was a little blurry, so the first thing he noticed was that there was something heavy on top of him and there was something in his mouth. What was it? It couldn't be worms. Was he still dreaming? Hinata tried reach up to take the thing out of his mouth, when he realized he couldn't, his wrists were tied to the bed. That's when the events of last night came rushing back. The weight on top of him turned out to be Kageyama, and he remembered getting tied up and gagged but that still didn't explain the headache. Hinata tried wiggling around in an effort to wake up Kageyama. It didn't work, Kageyama was still sleeping soundly. He didn't know what else to do, he couldn't yell and he couldn't hit him. Just as he was about to give up, there was a knock at the door. Kageyama sat bolt up right, and looked down to see Hinata underneath him.

"Shit," he said to himself, then he turned towards the door, "Just a minute!" They could hear Yachi's voice through the wood, "I just came to tell you breakfast is ready," the door opened a crack, "guah!" Yachi exclaimed and it slammed shut again.

"Shit!" Kageyama said again and he leaped off of the bed and slipped through the door, leaving Hinata by himself. Hinata was a bit annoyed, Kageyama could've at least taken the gag out before he left. It was alright though because a few moments later Kageyama came back.

"I got her to promise she wouldn't tell anyone what she saw," Kageyama paused, "Well actually, she just stammered and looked very scared but I think she agreed." Kageyama looked up when Hinata didn't respond.

"Oh right!" He ran over and took out the gag, "We have to get this off of you before anyone else comes in. If we aren't at breakfast, they'll ask questions. At least Yachi had the decency to knock." Hinata coughed, his mouth still felt a little like fabric.

"Are you going to untie me?" he asked in a slightly raspy voice. Kageyama raised his eyebrows, "That depends, are you going to try to escape and play volleyball again?" 'Of course I am' Hinata thought, but what he said was, "No, I know you'll just catch me again." Kageyama seemed to believe him, and he climbed on top of Hinata again to undo the restraints. Kageyama spent several minutes wrestling with the knot, until Hinata rolled his eyes, "Seriously? Are they really that hard to untie? You're the one that did the knots after all." Clearly, this was the wrong thing to say to someone that was trying to release him, but Hinata didn't care.

"Are you making fun of my knot tying ability?" Kageyama pulled out a knife. Hinata started trying to break free, surely Kageyama wouldn't kill him for something like that, "Hey, hold on, it was just a joke." Kageyama glared at him, "I'm not going to hurt you, dumbass. I'm going to use this to cut the rope." Kageyama started hacking away at the knot.

"Be careful!" Hinata yelped, "I want to still have all my fingers when you're done!" Kageyama was just about to utter a retort when his knife hand came up unexpectedly and Hinata felt a trickle of blood run down his right cheek. Kageyama looked startled, "I'm sorry, I used too much force, I didn't mean--"

"You did that on purpose!" Hinata accused him. Hinata realized that his right hand had been set free, and he used it to wrestle the knife away from Kageyama. He then used the knife to cut Kageyama's left cheek. It wasn't that deep, and Kageyama deserved it. Kageyama pulled away, and Hinata sliced the rope off his other wrist. Hinata sat up and stretched. Laying in the same position all night had made him very stiff. Hinata handed the knife back to Kageyama, who took it warily.

"Why did you do that, you moron!" Kageyama said angrily, "I can feel blood going in my mouth and it's disgusting!"

"Don't be such a baby, Kageyama." Hinata sighed, "It's not that bad." To prove it, he leaned closer and licked the blood off of Kageyama's cheek. It tasted a bit like metal and it wasn't that good, but Hinata wasn't going to let Kageyama know that. Hinata waited for Kageyama to yell at him, but Kageyama seemed stunned and wasn't doing anything, so Hinata slapped him in the face. Kageyama did not appreciate this, "Ew you're so gross Hinata! Now I have your spit all over me! And why did you hit me?"

"You weren't doing anything and that's the first thing I thought of," Hinata told him, "What would you have done?" Kageyama faltered, "Probably the same thing, but that's not the point!"

"Alright, so what is the point?" asked Hinata.

"That's not important," Kageyama responded, "Let's go have breakfast." he handed Hinata the crutches and helped him out of bed.

"So," Hinata began, "are we going to talk about last night?"

"I'd rather we didn't," Kageyama said. Hinata nodded, "Okay, that's fine I was just wondering one thing, I have a really bad headache right now and I can't remember if it could be something from yesterday." Kageyama thought about it, "I don't think so. You probably just hit yourself in the head with a volleyball." Hinata wanted to deny that, but it was plausible, even if he didn't remember it happening. As they walked to breakfast Hinata thought about Kageyama. Hinata didn't understand how he could be so stupid. They obviously both liked each other, but Kageyama didn't want to admit it which made Hinata upset. Hinata knew he couldn't be the first to talk about his feelings, because Kageyama would deny his own and probably get very mad at Hinata, which would affect how well they played volleyball. Hinata really thought it might happen after last night though, but apparently that wasn't the case. As much as Hinata had tried to deny it at the time, he'd enjoyed having Kageyama on top of him. There had even been a moment where they'd almost kissed, but sadly Kageyama had ruined it and pulled away. Hinata had also really appreciated Kageyama's whale sounds. Apparently, Hinata's thoughts had shown on his face because Kageyama said loudly, "What are you so happy about?" Hinata blushed, "Nothing much," he responded, "I'm just excited for breakfast."

When they got there, everyone seemed very excited to see Hinata since he'd been stuck in his room for most of the day before. After Hinata and Kageyama had gotten their food they sat down with their teammates from Karasuno and Kuroo and Kenma from Nekoma. Suga quickly noticed that they both had scratches on their faces, "What did you two do to each other?" he asked.

"It's no big deal," Kageyama answered, "it was just an accident with a knife."

"And now we'll have matching scars!" Hinata exclaimed happily. Suga looked very skeptical, “You idiots should never be trusted with weapons." Suga looked like he was about to ask more questions but he seemed to decide against it. Hinata immediately started telling Kenma about going to the hospital, while Kenma nodded and played games on his phone. Kuroo nudged Kenma, "Hey, maybe you should take a break from that thing and eat something." Kenma ignored him. Hinata hadn't realized Kenma wasn't eating. He dumped some of his food on an empty plate and pushed it over, "Here, I don't need all this, you're going to do a lot more than me today so you need the energy. I'm not even allowed to play volleyball." At these words, he gave Kageyama a nasty look, but Kageyama didn't notice.

"No, I'm fine," Kenma responded, "You have it." Hinata pushed the plate forward again, "But I insist." Kenma reluctantly set down his phone and picked up some fruit. Kuroo frowned, "Hey! How come you listen to him and not me?" He complained. Kenma shrugged, "I guess I just like him better." Kuroo put his arm around Kenma and pulled him closer, "Aw, you know you love me." Hinata glanced at Kageyama again, he still wasn't paying attention.

"So, what game were you playing anyway?" Hinata asked Kenma. Kenma started telling Hinata about the game and explaining how it worked. As much as Hinata was trying to listen, all he could focus on was that his headache was getting worse with each passing moment. Kenma seemed to noticed this because he stopped talking about the game and asked, "Are you alright Shoyo? You don't look too good." Hinata tried to grin, but it turned out more like a grimace, "I'm okay, I just have a bad headache for some reason." Kageyama finally turned towards them, "Still? That's not good, maybe I should take you back to bed."

"No!" Hinata yelled in a panicked voice. That got the attention of everyone of everyone at the table, and they all turned to see what was going on.

"What's Shoyo yelling about?" Noya asked.

"He has a bad headache and we don't know why," Kageyama explained.

"He probably just thought too hard and it didn't work because he's so stupid," Tsukishima said with a smirk. Kageyama had to hold Hinata back so he didn't hit Tsukishima.

"I want to hurt him too," Kageyama whispered in Hinata's ear, "but we can't do it now, there are too many witnesses." Yamaguchi looked worried, "What did you say?"

"None of your business!" Kageyama snapped at him.

"Have you had any water today? That might be the reason for your headache." Suga suggested.

"Maybe Kageyama did something to you in your sleep." Tanaka said thoughtfully.

"Hey!" Kageyama protested, "Don't blame me for everything!" Everyone tried to think of different things Hinata's headache might be caused by. They weren't getting anywhere because were all talking over each other, and the commotion just made Hinata's head feel worse. Then, Kenma spoke and the whole table quieted down.

"He's most likely having withdrawals," Kenma said plainly. Nishinoya practically leaped out of his chair, "Hinata does drugs?!" Hinata was very surprised at Kenma's statement as well. What did he mean, withdrawals?

"No, not from drugs," Kenma explained, "he's having exercise withdrawals."

"That's not a real thing," Kageyama scoffed. Hinata punched Kageyama's arm, "Shut up and let Kenma talk!"

"He normally plays volleyball all day, every day," Kenma continued, "this type of physical activity results in the body releasing chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. If someone exercises way too much, like Hinata, they can become addicted. Their body comes to rely on those chemicals and if the chemicals are taken away for too long it can cause a number of withdrawal symptoms, in this case it's a headache."

"How do you know so much about this?" Kageyama demanded. Kenma shrugged, "It happens to Kuroo sometimes." Hinata looked over at Kuroo, "Really?" Kenma nodded, "The first time was when we were younger and he got sick so he couldn't play volleyball for a couple days."

"Oh yeah," Kuroo said, "I remember that, I got you sick too and you got to come over so we could be sick together. Those were fun times."

"Not really," Kenma disagreed. Hinata was still interested in the story, "How did you know he was getting withdrawals?"

"I didn't at first," Kenma said, "Since we had the same virus, it was easy to tell it wasn't that, because Kuroo got headaches and his mood changed abruptly, but that didn't happen to me. I still had no idea why it was happening until there were a few more instances in which he got the same symptoms. After that, I did some research and remembered that all of the times it occurred were days that he couldn't play volleyball, and that's when I realized it was exercise withdrawal," Kenma finished.

"Are you saying Hinata has to play volleyball on his broken leg?" Kageyama asked, "because I won't allow that."

"No," Kenma said calmly, "Shoyo just needs to do some sort of physical activity. You could just go for a walk if you make it long enough." Kenma picked up his phone and started playing games again. Kageyama stood up, "We're going for a walk!" he announced.

"You don't need to tell the whole room Kageyama," Hinata sighed, "They already all know how much you worry for my well-being." Kageyama ignored these words and grabbed Hinata's shoulders to pull him out of the chair. Kageyama had done this quite roughly, so Hinata had a bit of trouble getting his balance on his crutches. Just as they turned to leave, Kuroo called them back, "Hey Hinata, what's that you have written on your cast?" Hinata looked down and saw the words. He had almost forgotten about that. Hinata tried to make his way over so Kuroo could see, but Kageyama blocked him, "We should really get going." Kuroo chuckled, "Now I have to see this." He got up and walked over to them, then leaned down so he could get a good look at Hinata's cast.

"Did Kageyama write this? His handwriting is so bad, but I think I can make it out." Kuroo examined it for a moment, then his eyes widened, "This looks like it says, 'Property of Tobio Kageyama.'" Kuroo stood up again, "That's so cute, are you guys dating?" The question was directed at Kageyama, but he appeared to be at a loss for words, so Hinata answered for him, "Not yet." Kageyama opened his mouth but Kuroo spoke first, "Nice. That shouldn't be all you have on your cast though," Kuroo reached in his pocket and brought out a pen. He leaned down again and scribbled for a moment, then stood back and admired it, " That's pretty amazing if I do say so myself. You're welcome." With that, he headed back to the table. Hinata lifted his leg up so he could see his cast. Kuroo had drawn a little doodle of himself, as well as one of Kenma, and they both had cat ears.

As soon as they were outside, Kageyama turned on Hinata, "What was that whole 'not yet' thing about when Kuroo asked if we were dating?" Hinata turned his head in Kageyama's direction, trying his best to look confused, "Wait, so you're saying we are dating?"

"That's not what I meant!" Kageyama spluttered, "Let's just drop it, okay?"

"You're the one that brought it up in the first place," Hinata pointed out.

"I don't care," Kageyama retorted, "change the subject anyway."

"Okay," Hinata said indifferently. Then his tone got more excited, "Isn't cool that I have something in common with Kuroo?!"

"You mean the exercise addiction?" Kageyama asked.

"Yeah!" Hinata jumped in the air, almost landing on his bad leg. After Kageyama steadied him, and yelled at him for a bit, they continued their conversation.

"I don't really see what the big deal is," Kageyama said, "I mean, it probably happens to me too. I play volleyball just as much as you, but it seems like if you said you were addicted to sleep or breathing. Yes, there's some side effects if you don't do it, but it's not really a bad thing." Hinata nodded his head in agreement. He completely understood what Kageyama was saying, there was nothing wrong with playing volleyball every chance you got. It just proved to him even more that he should get back on the court as soon as possible.

"So, what you're saying is, I should be allowed to go play now?" Hinata asked hopefully. Kageyama let out an exasperated sigh, "No! How many times do I have to say it to get you to understand?"

"More than you have already," Hinata replied, "Come on, think about how painful it must be for me to have a headache all day as well as a broken leg." They had been walking for about half an hour and Hinata's headache had actually gotten much better, but he wasn't going to let Kageyama know if it meant he could play volleyball again. Hinata let out some fake sniffles. Kageyama groaned, "Ugh, are you getting sick? I told you last night I didn't want you to do that."

"I was trying to act sad, you moron!" Hinata exclaimed.

"So, you were faking it?!" Kageyama exclaimed, "Do you even have a headache or is that a lie too?"

"I did have a headache!" Hinata retorted, then he'd realized he'd admitted he didn't have it anymore and he slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Alright, that means it's gone and I can take you back to your room," Kageyama smiled. Hinata started hobbling away as fast as he could. He was putting in a lot of effort, but Kageyama leaped after him and caught him in a matter of seconds. Since Kageyama had slammed into him pretty hard, and Hinata wasn't very stable to begin with, he fell over and ended up with Kageyama on top of him yet again.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that you're doing this on purpose," Hinata said, "It's not that I don't enjoy it, but we've ended up in this position an awful lot in the past two days." Kageyama hurriedly got up, and yanked Hinata to his feet as well.

"It's not on purpose! You'd know if it was," Kageyama informed him.

"Oh yeah?" Hinata asked, "I don't believe you. What would the difference be?"

"I don't know, there would just be a lot of difference," Kageyama said lamely.

"Prove it," Hinata challenged. Hinata could see in Kageyama's expression that he was conflicted. Kageyama probably didn't want to show him what the on-purpose version was, but he also never wanted to lose an argument to Hinata.

"Fine," Kageyama conceded, "First of all, in this hypothetical situation where I would want to end up on top of you, I wouldn't just go crashing into you to get you on the ground. There would be more style and forethought. I am a setter after all, it's what we do, I would plan the perfect toss."

"Right," Hinata tried to seem wary, "I'm not so sure about this. I don't really understand, I'm more of a visual learner."

"I can't help that you're stupid!" Kageyama yelled at him.

"So, you're saying you can't prove it to me then," Hinata started moving away. Kageyama seemed very annoyed, "Wait!" he grabbed Hinata's hand to stop him, "I'll show you." Kageyama pushed Hinata towards the nearest wall, "I might start with a kabedon, instead of immediately shoving you on the ground." Once Hinata felt his back hit the wall, Kageyama slapped his hand against it near Hinata's head. Kageyama leaned in, "Doesn't this already feel different?" Hinata nodded, "Yes, but I still don't know how we get from here to the ground."

"There are a couple options," Kageyama said, "In both of these scenarios, we're most likely kissing so our faces would be touching, can you picture that?"

"Yeah," Hinata managed.

"Okay, the first one is when we don't move from this spot." Kageyama set his hand on Hinata's shoulder and started pushing down. Hinata dropped his crutches, slid down the wall and then in between Kageyama's legs. Kageyama moved with him so it finished with Hinata laying on the ground with Kageyama sitting on top of him. Kageyama was bent over so that his face could be right in front of Hinata's. Hinata swallowed, he wished that Kageyama was actually kissing him.

"Alright, you get the idea for that one," Kageyama stood up and helped Hinata to his feet. They got in the kabedon position again.

"Next, we have one where we move to a different spot, so it's more comfortable for you. This would be what I would most likely do if it were a real situation," Kageyama explained. Kageyama put his free hand behind Hinata's back and pulled him closer so they were up against each other, "I could either push you or carry you, but for now I'll carry you since your leg is broken." Kageyama lifted Hinata in the air and turned so he could throw him down onto a soft patch of grass. Then he got on top of Hinata again and leaned forward. Hinata couldn't believe this was happening. He was so surprised he'd gotten Kageyama to do it. Now was such a good opportunity, Hinata decided he wanted to kiss Kageyama, but before he could, Kageyama got up again. 'Dammit,' thought Hinata, 'why did Kageyama have to always ruin the moment?' Kageyama pulled Hinata up and looked at him with a very dark expression on his face, "You are never to speak of this to anyone, is that clear?"

"I won't," Hinata promised. He did really want to tell somebody, but he didn't know who it would be. He thought Noya might be a good option, but Noya would tell everyone else and Kageyama would find out and get mad. Hinata felt like everyone on the Karasuno team would spread it around if he told them. Except for maybe Daichi and Suga but Hinata didn't think they were the right people to tell. Maybe he could tell one of the girls? Then he decided against it, Kiyoko would most likely ignore him, while Yachi, actually he had no idea what she would do, probably get frightened and anxious for no reason like always. Who was Hinata friends with that he knew could keep a secret? Then it came to him: Kenma. He began leaving to go find Kenma but Kageyama grabbed him by the back of his shirt, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I want to go talk to Kenma," Hinata responded, "let me go." Kageyama raised his eyebrows, "I'm coming with you to make sure you aren't lying."

"I'm not!" Hinata said indignantly, "why can't you just trust me?"

"Because every time I've given you any freedom, you've completely ignored me and tried to play volleyball," Kageyama responded.

"That's true," Hinata said reluctantly, "but this time is different."

"I'm still coming," Kageyama insisted.

They found Kenma sitting with Kuroo outside of the gymnasium.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Hinata asked. Kenma glanced up, "We're waiting for the other team to finish their flying falls." Kuroo stood up, "What are you guys doing here? Did you start missing me already?" Kuroo grinned, "I'm sorry to inform you, but I'm already taken," he gestured at Kenma, who ignored him. Kageyama pushed Hinata forward, "He wants to talk to Kenma." Hinata stumbled and flailed around, grabbing Kageyama's arm. They both fell into Kenma's lap. Kenma seemed slightly surprised to suddenly have them there, and Kuroo moved to shove them away, asking, "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

"I did get a bit bruised," Kageyama replied.

"I was talking to Kenma," Kuroo clarified. Kageyama scowled and brushed himself off. Kenma picked up his phone because it had fallen to the ground during the incident, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Good," Kuroo sounded relieved, and he sat back down next to Kenma and put his arm around his shoulder. Kuroo seemed to completely forget that Kageyama and Hinata were there, because he focused solely on Kenma for the next two minutes, until Kageyama coughed loudly. Kuroo looked up at the sound, "It sounds like you have something wrong with your throat. You should get that checked out, it's probably from all the unnecessary yelling you do." Hinata sniggered, and Kageyama tried to punch him, but Kuroo caught his arm before he could, "Hey, no need to get violent, he was just laughing at my outstanding joke. You can't blame him for that, it's very hard not to find me funny, you'd have to be a complete moron." Kenma looked over, "I don't find you funny."

"Yes, you do, you're just laughing internally," Kuroo insisted.

"Do I get to talk to Kenma yet?" Hinata asked. Kenma shrugged, "Go ahead, what do you want to talk about?" Hinata looked at the ground, "I'd rather discuss that in private." Kageyama seemed startled, stood up, and pulled up Hinata. Then he dragged him a few feet away and slammed him into the wall.

"You're not planning on talking about what just happened, right? You said you wouldn't." Hinata laughed nervously, "Of course not." Kageyama pushed Hinata harder against the wall, "You'd better not." Then he pointed to a doorway nearby, "That's a supply closet, but it has a light in it. You two can talk in there, I'm going to stand outside to make sure you can't leave without me noticing." Hinata nodded, and Kageyama released him reluctantly. Hinata hopped over to his crutches and picked them up.

"You realize we could hear everything you said," Kuroo informed them, "Now, I don't know what thing happened that Kageyama doesn't want anyone to know about, but I'll try to get it out of him the entire time you're in there." Then Kuroo paused and added, "Also, I'd like a turn with Kenma in the closet afterwards," Kuroo noticed Kageyama staring at him, "You and Hinata can get your chance after we're done," he said. "Kenma and I will guard it for you, as long as you do the same for us." Kenma got up, "He's joking." Kuroo looked offended by this, "I am not!"

Kenma and Hinata made their way into the closet and turned on the light. After the door was closed, Hinata started telling Kenma everything that had happened with Kageyama since he broke his leg. Kenma listened intently, his eyes widening several times throughout the story. When Hinata finished, Kenma finally spoke, "It sounds like Kageyama definitely likes you, if you admit your feelings it'll probably go well." Hinata shook his head, "I can't do that. Kageyama might not want to be together."

"He already told you he did," Kenma pointed out.

"That was all hypothetical," Hinata protested, "It doesn't mean he actually meant it. I want something like you and Kuroo have. How did you guys admit your feelings for each other?" Kenma seemed slightly taken aback, "What are you talking about? Kuroo and I aren't dating." Hinata was surprised, "Oh, you should tell Kuroo that then, because he seems to think you are." Kenma looked unsure at this information, then he thought for a moment, "Is it normal to kiss your friends?" Hinata shook his head. Kenma shrugged, "I guess we are dating then." Hinata was shocked, why couldn't it be that easy for him and Kageyama? Kenma awkwardly patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck with Kageyama, I hope you admit your feelings soon."

"You won't tell anyone about this, right?" Hinata asked. Kenma nodded.

"Not even Kuroo?" Hinata questioned. Kenma hesitated a bit at this but he agreed, "Not even Kuroo."

They stepped out of the closet. Kuroo was still pestering Kageyama about what he didn't want anyone to know, but he stopped when they came out, "Alright Kenma, let's go into the closet together." Kenma grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards the gymnasium, "Come on, we don't have time for that." Kuroo seemed disappointed, but he still followed Kenma inside. Kageyama turned to Hinata, "Are you ready to go back to your room?"

"No," Hinata responded. Kageyama scooped Hinata into his arms, "Too bad, because we're going back anyway." As they made their way back to their room, Kageyama asked, "What did you and Kenma talk about?"

"I told you, that's private," Hinata responded.

"Alright, I guess I can't force you to tell me," Kageyama dropped the subject, but he didn't look happy about it. When they got back to their room, Kageyama put Hinata down on his bed and sat next to him.

"Are you going to leave me all alone again today, or are you going to stay with me?" Hinata asked. Kageyama groaned, "I guess I can stay with you, but only because I have nothing better to do."

"Hey, Kageyama? You know how we were talking about hypothetical situations earlier," Hinata asked.

"Yeah," Kageyama responded, "Where are you going with this?"

"Um," Hinata purposely looked anywhere but Kageyama, "Hypothetically, if you could choose, what would your ideal partner be like?"

"Like in volleyball? Probably you, but maybe less annoying," Kageyama answered, "Oh, and taller," Kageyama added. Hinata did not appreciate that, "Hey! I may be short, but I'm always trying to improve, and I will work hard enough to beat anyone, even if they have the advantage of height!" He stopped for a second, "Also, you're so stupid! I meant partner as in significant other!"

"Oh, you mean like a bo--" Kageyama coughed, "girlfriend, I meant girlfriend." Hinata nodded frantically, "Right, yes, girlfriend, of course."

"Well, she'd have to be shorter than me," Kageyama began, "maybe around 163 centimeters. I'm just throwing out a random number." Hinata was startled, "That's my height!" Kageyama immediately got defensive, "Yeah, but that isn't that short for a girl. For you though it's really small."

"Anyway," Kageyama continued, "I wouldn't want her to have dark hair, because we might look to much like siblings, so maybe a blonde or a redhead. We'd probably get in little fights all the time, but the cute fights over unimportant things, not anything serious," he blushed and turned towards Hinata, "I haven't thought too much about it," he said quickly, "what would your ideal girlfriend be like?"

"Oh," Hinata was surprised, "she'd be really pretty of course, and probably be tall, maybe even taller than me."

"That's weird," Kageyama interrupted.

"No, it's not!" Hinata yelled back at him, "He'd, I mean, she'd have dark hair, and nice blue eyes."

"So, you like Kiyoko?" Kageyama asked.

"No, I mean, yes, she is very beautiful, but I was thinking someone a bit, how do I say this, um, stupider, than Kiyoko," Hinata answered. Kageyama seemed confused, "I don't understand, why would you want her to be stupid?"

"Because I don't know a lot of things," Hinata explained, "and that way, we could not know them together." Kageyama rolled his eyes, "You really are a moron."

"That's another thing," Hinata said, "she would be the only one allowed to call me an idiot." Kageyama grinned, "But when she's not around, you need me to do it, in case you forget what a dumbass you are." Hinata glared at him, "I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to," Kageyama replied, "I already knew that's what you would want." Hinata hit him, and Kageyama almost fell off the bed.

"You know, for an invalid you're pretty strong, which is why I won't feel bad about doing this," Kageyama jumped on Hinata, slamming his knee into Hinata's stomach. Hinata was not prepared for this and he almost threw up. He was able to stop himself and just made a loud choking noise. Then he used all his strength and managed to flip them over, so now Hinata was on top of Kageyama. Kageyama seemed very surprised, and Hinata took this opportunity to grab the rope from the bedside table, "Maybe I should show you what it's like to be tied down." Hinata was able to use both his hands to successfully pin down one of Kageyama's, but before he could start tying, Kageyama used his other hand to push Hinata away. Hinata accidentally dropped the rope and Kageyama seized it and tossed it to the side. Kageyama flipped them over again, "I'm much better at this than you are," he told Hinata, "I don't even need rope to keep you down." At these words, he used both his hands to grab Hinata's wrists and slam them down on the bed by Hinata's head. Hinata struggled, he had enjoyed that brief moment of being on top of Kageyama and he wanted to do it again, but he couldn't break free. Hinata looked up in Kageyama's face, which was extremely close to his. Come to think of it, even if he couldn't be on top, this was still pretty nice.

"Alright we're going to get you ready for sleep," Kageyama told him.

"What?!" exclaimed Hinata, "It's only noon!"

"Yeah but I'm not letting you leave this bed for the rest of the day so we might as well do it now. What do you sleep in?"

"Usually just a pair of shorts, but I don't see why--" Hinata stopped protesting, as soon as he'd said what he slept in, Kageyama had begun taking off Hinata's shirt, but since his hands were occupied, he was using his teeth. Hinata froze, he didn't want to do anything that might cause Kageyama to stop. He could feel Kageyama's lips brushing against his stomach, it took all his self-control to not let out a moan. As Kageyama pulled the shirt higher, his face got steadily closer to Hinata's. When Kageyama got the shirt up near Hinata's head, he dropped it because of all the fabric, and when he went to pick it up again, he accidentally bit Hinata's neck. It didn't hurt that much because Kageyama had been very gentle about it, but Kageyama dropped Hinata's shirt again in surprise, "Sorry, I didn't mean--"

"It's fine," Hinata interrupted. He had actually didn't mind it at all, and kind of wished Kageyama would do it again. To Hinata's dismay Kageyama did not do it again. Instead he just looked a little concerned, and then picked up the shirt with his mouth again. As Kageyama pulled it over his head, Hinata felt Kageyama's lips touch his briefly. Hinata couldn't kiss him because too much of his shirt was in the way, but he wondered if Kageyama had done that on purpose, or if he'd even noticed that it had happened. Eventually, Kageyama was able to get Hinata's shirt off, releasing one arm at a time so he could slip it off of them. This did turn out to be quite an ordeal, because as soon as one of Hinata's hands was freed, he grabbed Kageyama by the shirt and hooked his uninjured leg around Kageyama's waist in an attempt to flip him over. This did not work, because Kageyama was ready and he used his free hand to reach out and start choking Hinata. He wasn't cutting off Hinata's air, but he'd stopped the blood flow, so Hinata began to get light headed and his grip relaxed. Kageyama grabbed his hand and pinned it down again, then let go of the other one slowly to take Hinata's shirt the rest of the way off. Kageyama glared at him the whole time, as if he was daring Hinata to try something again.

"I don't understand why you have to be so resistant," Kageyama sighed, "All I'm trying to do is be a good friend, but you really don't deserve it, it's not like you've ever done anything for me."

"That's not true!" Hinata protested, "I've helped you win volleyball games."

"That doesn't count," Kageyama said, "because you want to win too, so that's probably just selfishness."

"Well it's not like you did anything for me before this," Hinata pointed out. Kageyama grumbled to himself briefly then said, "Fine, but you'd better be there for me if you ever break one of my bones."

"Okay," Hinata paused, "Wait, don't you mean if you ever break one of your bones?" Kageyama shook his head, "No, I'd never be stupid enough to break a bone, so if it happens it must be your fault." Hinata was offended by this, "Not everything bad that happens to you is my fault! You make mistakes too!"

"True," Kageyama agreed, "but nowhere near as many as you." They both sat in angry silence for a bit, but then Hinata asked, "Kageyama, how come I'm the only one without a shirt on? Shouldn't you take off yours too?"

"I'm not Tanaka, I'm not going to fall for that. I know you just want me to let go of you," Kageyama responded.

"No, it's not that," Hinata said truthfully.

"What other reason could you possibly have?" Kageyama questioned. Hinata thought for a second, "Um, I just, I think, maybe..." he trailed off. Kageyama rolled his eyes, sat up and took off his shirt so fast Hinata didn't have time to process what was happening. Before he could react, Kageyama had grabbed Hinata's wrists again.

"There," Kageyama said, "If it'll get you to stop babbling, I'll do anything." Hinata gulped, "Anything?" Kageyama narrowed his eyes, "It's a figure of speech, dumbass." Hinata hadn't expected Kageyama to actually take off his shirt, but he definitely wasn't complaining. Kageyama's body was lean and toned, probably from all the volleyball he played, and Hinata found it very nice to look at. In fact, Hinata could've looked at him for hours, but Kageyama interrupted his thoughts, "Why are you staring at me like that?" Hinata was caught off guard, and didn't respond, so Kageyama continued, "If you're going to be weird about it, I'm putting my shirt back on. I have to go to the bathroom anyway."

"You're leaving?" Hinata asked.

"Only for a few minutes," Kageyama replied, "You'd better not get any ideas while I'm gone. Actually, I'll make sure you don't." He shifted Hinata's wrists so he could hold both of them with one hand and he used the other one to pick up the rope from the floor. To do this, Kageyama had to lean over, which meant that he was right up against Hinata. Hinata could feel the heat from Kageyama's body, Kageyama had been on top of him many times, but the fact that their skin was touching made a difference. Unfortunately, it was very brief, because Kageyama sat up again and tied down Hinata's wrists. Hinata didn't struggle, he knew Kageyama could stop him, his only option was to find a way to escape while Kageyama was gone. Kageyama got off the bed and pulled his shirt back on, "I'll be back in a few minutes, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," Kageyama told him, "On second thought, everything you do is stupid so just don't do anything." Kageyama left the room. Hinata immediately started looking for a way to get out of the ropes. First, he tried reaching his fingertips to his wrist to see if he could reach the knot. He was able to just barely touch it, but there was no way he could untie it like this. Hinata tried to think of another option, he glanced frantically around the room. That's when he saw Kageyama's knife lying on the bedside table. If he could just get to it, he could use it to cut the ropes and get out to play volleyball. He stretched his fingers toward it as far as he could. Hinata twisted his hand back and forth, if he could loosen the ropes just a little bit, he could slide his hand further. He was able to move his hand a tiny bit closer, but it was no use, the knife was still several centimeters away. He kept wriggling his arm, he wished he had more time, just a few more minutes, a few more centimeters, and he would be there. He gave his arm one final shove against the rope, and, yes, he touched it! His moment of joy went very quickly though, because instead of being able to grab hold of the knife, he had bumped it so it skittered across the table. Hinata watched in horror as ended up balancing precariously on the edge for a moment, and then fell to the ground. Hinata wanted to cry, all he wanted to do was play volleyball, and he'd worked so hard, but it was all in vain. He laid there in misery, wishing he'd never broken his leg in the first place. He hated himself for falling down those stairs. He hadn't even broken his leg in a cool way, like during a volleyball game in an attempt to get a crucial point. He'd only fallen down the stairs because he was distracted thinking about training camp. His excitement for it had caused him to not be able to do it at all. He felt even worse because he knew his team couldn't play as well without him and Kageyama. He slammed his head down on his pillow in frustration. He wanted to scream and let out all of his pent-up anger. Just as he was about to, there was a knock at the door. Hinata knew it couldn't be Kageyama, because he wouldn't knock, "Who is it?" Hinata asked. He heard a familiar voice coming through the door, "Shoyo? It's Kenma, I just wanted to come check in on you." Hinata couldn't believe it, he had been given another chance to escape!

"Come in, and hurry!" Hinata yelled. The door opened and Kenma's face peeked through, "Why are you in such a rush? Where's Kageyama?" Hinata wished he wasn't asking so many questions, "He's in the bathroom, but he'll be back any minute. Hurry up and untie me!" Kenma seemed to notice the restraints for the first time, "Kageyama did this to you?" he asked. Hinata was getting exasperated, "Yes, but that doesn't matter. Help me out of here!" Kenma paused, "No, I don't think so." Hinata was not expecting that answer, "What?! Why not?"

"I just think it would be better for your interests to stay here with Kageyama." Hinata didn't like that Kenma was betraying him, "My interests?! What could be more interesting than volleyball?" Kenma sighed, "That's not what I meant. Did you forget our entire conversation about confessing your feelings? Based on this," he gestured at the ropes holding Hinata down, " it seems like you guys are getting pretty close to that."

"This has nothing to do with that!" Hinata yelled, "I can wait on confessing my feelings, I'll have plenty of chances, but this is my only chance to get out and play volleyball!"

"That's not true," Kenma corrected him, "You can play as much as you want after your leg heals." Hinata struggled against his bindings, "I can't wait that long! It could be weeks before it heals!"

"All the more reason to focus on your relationship with Kageyama now," Kenma said. Hinata groaned, he didn't know if there was anything he could say to persuade Kenma to release him. Why did he care so much about Hinata and Kageyama being together, and why didn't he understand that volleyball was more important? Kenma seemed to see how upset Hinata was, "You may hate me for this now, but you'll thank me later when you and Kageyama are together." Hinata seriously doubted that, he tried again, "Kenma, I know you think you're doing what's best for me, but as me, I disagree with you," Hinata's eyes started to fill with tears, "please, I haven't gotten to play volleyball for the past two days, you have no idea how rough it's been for me." Kenma shrugged, "Based on our earlier conversation, it actually sounds like you've been having a pretty good time, even without volleyball." Hinata was starting to lose hope, Kageyama would be back soon, and arguing with Kenma wasn't getting him anywhere, Kenma kept using things like logic, which Hinata knew he couldn't win against. Suddenly, he heard Kuroo's voice, "What are we looking at Kenma? Is that another supply closet? Since you didn't want to before, I think you owe me some time making out in there." Kenma turned away from Hinata and used his body to block the doorway, "There's nothing in here of interest Kuroo, it's not a supply closet and even if it was, I don't owe you anything." Kuroo spoke again, "If there's nothing there of interest, you wouldn't mind me looking right? Unless, of course, you're hiding something from me. Either way, I want to see whatever it is." The door opened much wider, and now Hinata could see both Kuroo and Kenma. Kuroo pushed Kenma aside and walked in the room, he didn't notice Hinata at first, and seemed very confused. He was about to say something, but that's when he saw Hinata on the bed and he seemed even more bewildered, "Kenma, are you cheating on me with Hinata? Is that why you didn't want me to see this?" Kenma seemed shocked at this, "What? No, of course not, Kageyama did that to him." Kuroo appeared very happy to hear that, "Oh, okay," then he turned to address Hinata, "Y'all like it kinky I see. Nice."

"Not exactly," Hinata said, "He did this so I couldn't get out of bed and play volleyball." Kuroo didn't seem to believe him, "Oh, I get it, you guys are keeping it a secret for now," Kuroo winked at him, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Hinata was very irritated, did no one care about what he wanted?

"We aren't together!" Hinata shouted, "Can someone please untie me? Kageyama will be back any second."

"Actually, no he won't," Kuroo said, "He hasn't even gotten to the bathroom yet, he was on his way but I started talking to him. That's where I was, before I got to find out about your very exciting love story."

"It's not a story if there's nothing to tell. Now, again, can someone take off this rope?" Hinata asked hopefully. Kuroo still looked skeptical, "Are you sure you want me to take it off?"

"Yes!" Hinata responded. Kuroo started walking forward, but Kenma grabbed his arm, "Wait." Kuroo stopped, and turned around, "What's the problem?"

"Hinata does like Kageyama," Kenma explained, "and Kageyama probably likes Hinata, but neither of them seems to want to tell the other one. Forcing them to be alone in a room together does seem to getting them closer to it though, so if you release Hinata, that's just a step in the wrong direction."

"Hey!" Hinata exclaimed, "You said you wouldn't tell anyone about that!" Kenma was very unapologetic, "What do you expect me to do? You're purposefully putting your relationship with Kageyama in jeopardy, all I'm doing is trying to help it."

"It's my life!" Hinata retorted, "I should be able to do what I want." Kenma was about to reply, but him and Hinata noticed that Kuroo had picked up Kageyama's knife. Kenma held out his hand, "Okay, give it to me so we can keep it away from Hinata." Kuroo shook his head, "Nah, I think I'm going to cut him loose." Hinata's heart leaped, he was going to be free!

"No," Kenma objected, "That's a terrible idea. Haven't you been listening to what I've been saying?"

"Yeah, I have," Kuroo responded, "and if they really are in love, Kageyama will chase after him so it'll be more interesting and if it takes a while for Kageyama to find him, why not let Hinata play some volleyball? I'm sure it'll be fine." Kenma put his head in his hands, "He has a broken leg, there's so many things that could go wrong." Kuroo ignored him and cut the ropes holding Hinata down. As soon as he was released, Hinata sat up and flexed his wrists, which had started to get sore. There were even red marks where the ropes had held him. Kuroo handed Hinata his crutches. Hinata got out of bed and looked around the room, he didn't see where Kageyama had put his shirt, but there was a Karasuno jacket laying on the floor, so Hinata pulled it on. It turned out to be Kageyama's and therefore was too big for him, but he didn't have time to find his own and he didn't want to show up shirtless to the gymnasium so he kept it on. He looked warily at Kenma as he hobbled to the door, but Kenma just frowned and said, "I still think both of you are idiots, but I won't try to stop you." With those words of encouragement, Hinata set off to gymnasium as fast as he could. He didn't like how much slower he was on crutches; he was putting as much effort into it as he could and he was maybe going the speed a jog would be if he had two working legs. Nevertheless, he continued to move forward without getting too disappointed. At least he was going to get to play volleyball soon enough. He turned a corner and saw Coach Ukai walking in the opposite direction. He pulled himself back as fast as he could, he didn't think he'd been spotted. If Coach Ukai saw him out of bed without Kageyama, he would definitely stop Hinata and ask him questions, or take him back to his room. Hinata didn't want to deal with that, so he flattened himself against the wall and hoped Coach Ukai would continue straight instead of going around the corner. One good thing about this situation would be that Ukai wouldn't be in the gymnasium if Hinata ever managed to get there. Ukai was the only one other than Kageyama and Takeda who knew for sure that Hinata was supposed to be in bed, so if he wasn't there, it would give Hinata more of an opportunity to convince his teammates to let him join their game. Hinata's stomach felt like it was filled with lead as Ukai reached him. Much to Hinata's dread, he did turn the corner, but he was looking down at his phone and didn't seem to notice Hinata standing right next to him. Hinata stayed as still as he could as Ukai passed by, and Hinata waited until he turned another corner and out of sight to let out a relieved breath. He was still trembling with nerves as he continued on his way to the gym. Every time he saw any sort of movement he froze and looked around. He didn't come across any more people though, so mostly he was getting jumpy over the wind and a couple of birds. It felt like forever before he reached the gym, but it was probably more like a minute or two. Hinata had a bit of trouble opening the doors while balancing on his crutches, but he was able to get through. This time, Karasuno was in the middle of a match with Fukurodani. Hinata glanced around the room, but didn't see Takeda, which made him excited.

"Hey guys! Can I join in?" he yelled happily at them. Everyone stopped and looked to see who had said that, the volleyball dropping to the floor with a thud. The first one to speak was Bokuto, "Hinata! I heard you'd broken your leg, so I wasn't expecting to see you here! Why is that jacket so big on you? " Hinata glanced down at his cast and his outfit, "Well I did break my leg, but I feel ready to play again, and the jacket is unimportant. It's just the first thing I grabbed when I left my room."

"That's great!" Bokuto responded, "Is Kageyama going to join us so you guys can do that superhuman quick?" Hinata opened his mouth, trying to quickly think of a believable lie about why Kageyama couldn't make it, but before he could say anything, Suga started talking, "Are you even allowed to play volleyball right now?" Hinata laughed nervously, "Of course I'm allowed. Why else would I be here? I was only supposed to rest for one day, and now that's over, so I can get back to volleyball." Suga seemed unconvinced, "Well, okay, but I don't think you should just start playing in this game. We should put it on hold for a bit and try out some simpler things first." Hinata didn't like that, because he felt he would do just fine in a regular game. He wasn't discouraged though, because he would still be playing volleyball again, and if he had to prove he was fine with some warm up moves, then so be it.

"How are you going to hit the volleyball if your arms are already busy using your crutches?" Tanaka wondered. Hinata dropped his crutches and started hopping on one leg, "like this. I don't need my crutches to move around." Daichi and Suga both got very alarmed at this, but several other members of the Karasuno team, like Noya and Tanaka, loved the idea of Hinata playing using only one foot. Bokuto was also very much on Hinata's side, "That's going to be so cool! Maybe we should all stand on one leg to make it fair," he suggested.

"We're not doing that," Daichi said, "Hinata can do a few serves and receives, while doing as little jumping as possible.

"I can still jump on one leg!" Hinata complained. Daichi held up his hand to silence Hinata, "That may be true, but it's better safe than sorry," he turned to the players who were on the sidelines at the moment, "Yamaguchi, can you serve some balls for Hinata to receive while we finish up this game?" he asked, "You can do it over there," he waved his hand towards an open area near the doors that would be wide enough for the two of them to practice. Yamaguchi nodded and walked over to Hinata.

"Do you want to take off your jacket before we start, so you don't get too warm? I can help you get it off if you can't do it yourself." Hinata shook his head, "No, I'm fine, don't worry about it." Yamaguchi went a few meters away and prepared to serve the ball. The game between Karasuno and Fukurodani resumed. Yamaguchi hit the ball straight towards Hinata. Hinata was able to hit the ball pretty well, but it unbalanced him, and he had to steady himself as Yamaguchi went to get another ball.

"Don't go easy on me," Hinata told Yamaguchi, "I'm just as good as I was before." Yamaguchi scratched his head uneasily, "You weren't that great at hitting receives before you broke your leg." Hinata couldn't deny this statement, "Alright, true, but if you go easy on me, I won't be able to get any better." Yamaguchi fidgeted with his hands, "Yeah, but maybe we'll do that later okay? Right now, I think it's best to just see what you're capable of." Hinata did not like this idea, but he just muttered unhappily under his breath and walk further away so Yamaguchi could serve to him again. This time, Hinata didn't end up hitting the ball even though he'd waved his arms around quite a lot. Instead, it flew past him and hit him in the shoulder. This caused him to fall backwards and he hit the ground fairly hard. Yamaguchi ran over to him, "Are you alright? I'm so sorry," he held out his hands so he could help Hinata up. Hinata ignored him and tried to get up on his own. He pushed up with both of his hands and his working leg, but he didn't succeed in doing anything, except throwing himself in the air a few centimeters and then falling down again. Yamaguchi continued holding out his hand and Hinata took it reluctantly,

"I would've been able to get up eventually," he said.

"You may have been, but you shouldn't be so hesitant to accept someone else's help. If you work together with others it's more likely you'll reach your goal faster," Yamaguchi told him.

"I know that!" Hinata replied, "We get told that all the time in volleyball, but I still want to do some things on my own." They were about to continue receives, but suddenly Hinata heard footsteps approaching from outside. He started panicking, it could be Kageyama coming to get him. If it was, Hinata couldn't let Kageyama find him or he would take him back to bed. He couldn't handle that, he was so tired of being in bed all day. Hinata had to find some way of telling everyone to cover for him, while also making it seem like he was supposed to be there. He thought for a moment but he didn't have any ideas so he just shouted, "I think Kageyama is coming! Don't let him know I'm here, I'll answer questions later!" Hinata hopped over and hid behind the container holding the volleyballs. Everyone seemed confused and started talking to each other and moving around, but Tanaka yelled over all of them, "You heard him people! Let's do what he says!" Then Tanaka grabbed Hinata's crutches and threw them over behind the volleyball container with Hinata so they would be out of sight as well. Hinata was grateful for this, because the footsteps did turn out to be Kageyama's and he burst through the doors with Kuroo and Kenma behind him. Kenma appeared to be pushing him forward and telling him where to go.

"Where is Hinata?!" Kageyama shouted. Everyone froze, except for Tsukishima who opened his mouth, but Yamaguchi slapped his hand over it and Hinata was close enough to hear him whisper, "Don't say anything, I think something big is about to happen." Hinata tried his best to stay silent, he felt like even the sound of his breathing was enough to make Kageyama notice him. Kageyama waited expectantly, "Well?!" he asked, "I know he must be in here somewhere." Kageyama looked around, and when everyone continued to not respond he drew in his breath sharply and continued in a much quieter voice, that still somehow carried across the whole gymnasium, "He must be here. If he isn't here then I don't know where he would be and if I couldn't find him..." Kageyama cleared his throat, "Guys, please, you must have some idea of where he is. I promised his family, I promised Coach Ukai, but most of all I promised myself that'd I'd keep him safe. I know he wants to play volleyball, and I wish he could too. He deserves the world and I know I can't give it to him. I can't even give him volleyball and I know he hates me for it," Kageyama's eyes started to glisten with tears, "but if something's happened to him, and he's all alone, I couldn't bear it. He may be a dumbass but I... I still... I love him." Hinata was amazed, Kageyama had just said everything he'd wanted to hear. Kageyama cared about him, and he loved Hinata like Hinata loved him. There was no way he could stay still after that, he grabbed his crutches and leapt up with a clatter. Kageyama turned towards the noise and Hinata rushed over to him, exclaiming, "You love me?" Kageyama seemed very relieved and very angry at the same time, "There you are! Of course I didn't say that." Hinata hesitated, "Yes you did, just now in front of everyone." Kageyama's face turned red and he started stuttering something, but he didn't end up getting any words out, because before he could, Hinata threw his crutches to the ground and jumped on him. Hinata wrapped his legs around Kageyama's waist, but he wasn't able to hold himself up because of the broken one, so he immediately started slipping down. Before he could get far though, Kageyama caught him and pulled him back up. Hinata's heart was pounding, there were so many people watching them right now, Hinata noticed in his peripheral vision that Noya was exchanging money with people, and Kuroo had pulled out his phone to film them. Hinata didn't acknowledge them, because none of that mattered to him, the only person that seemed important was Kageyama. He looked Kageyama in the eyes and said, "Since you don't seem to know if you love me or not, maybe this will refresh your memory." Hinata leaned in and kissed Kageyama. He'd expected Kageyama to pull away, but he did the opposite, Kageyama moved one of his hands up to Hinata's back and used it to bring him in closer. Kageyama tasted like fruit, but Hinata couldn't place which one. He lifted up his hand and ran it through Kageyama's hair, it was surprisingly soft. Kageyama was so close, and Hinata felt amazing, this was everything he'd dreamed it to be and he could stay like this forever in Kageyama's arms. Much too soon the kiss was over, it seemed like it had ended as soon as it started, but they were still looking into each other's eyes for a while, before Hinata spoke, "Maybe Kenma was right, I hate to say it, but I think there's things that are more important than volleyball." Kageyama kissed Hinata on the forehead, and grinned, "I think I do love you." Hinata hit him playfully on the arm, "Took you long enough."


End file.
